Waiterless restaurant



'0612. 6, 1931. Q 6,' HALL 1,825,950

WAITERLES S RESTAURANT Filed Aug. 17, 192s s sheets-'sheet 1 Mull Oct.V 6, 1931.v c. @HALL WATERLESS RESTAURANT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 17, 1928 alto: nu@

oche, 1931.

c. G. HALL 1,825,950

WAITERLESS RESTAURANT Filed Aug. 17, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 CHARLES G. HALL, or Boren, IDAHo, AssieNonmoAUToM/ATIC noon ronarron, or Bojrsn, IDAHO Patented Oct. 6, 1931 STATES PATENT orifice 'inserirle'ene?` een# v WAIrERjLEss RESTAURANT My presen-t invention relates .tomy Uni-ted States patent application, Serial Number 213,714 liled August 17, 1927, upon ,a Waiter-y lcss restaurant. Y n

The primary purposeof my new proved device :is to carry prepared oodpaS eating` tables upon one or more floors; The food' to be carried upon an endless conveyor past tables and to be removed from the end;- less conveyor by thepatrons of the place.

A further object of my .device .consists .in providing)` simple and efficient means'ivhereby the food may be prepared at a central location and -be automatically carried from the point of preparation past customers seated adjacent the path of travel of the conveyors upon Which the food is being conveyed thereby permitting' the patrons to personally remove the food desired from the conveyor as the same passes the patrons.

In congested centers of population during the rush periods, the success of the establishment depends upon its ability to feed a maximum number of people Within a given time.

In my new and improved device the food is prepared upon one of the floors of the building' and is carried therefrom to the feeding location so that the patron is seated immediately he arrives Within the eating place. The food to be sold and vended is carried past the seated patron upon endless conveyors. rlhe continuous operation thereby reducing the time of serving the patron to an absolute minimum. I accomplish these results by simple mechanism consisting primarily of an endless conveyor chain or belt made of a plurality of table units arranged in spaced relationship upon a iiexible belt, the belt operating in suitable guideyvays for maintainin q the table during its entire travel in a substantially horizontal position.

A further object of my invention resides in a mechanism that may be adapted for serving a plurality of floors of the building from and .im- I upkeep maintenance ailier` being .Iirst Yiii-r stalled.

A further object .of inynvention resides in a construct-ion that may il@ miifhed a highly sanitary condition,4r Y.

l IVith `these and incidental objects in view, the inventionconsists in certain Vnovel iea'f tures of .Construction and combination .of parts, the .essential elements of Wliicli- 1are set forth in the appended Claims., and e preferred vform of embodiment .of which is hereinafter shown with reference .to Vthe .drawings Wlieh @company V:nidi ierin a partei .this speeiieation;

In the drawings: y Fig. l isa vdagrernmenticfil lay-.ent of iny new and improved ,construction showing the Same .serving four floors of building the vsaine being in cross seetienvae t0 the 'building f ,and illustrating .the path ei travel 0i the serv; ing-,belt-bydottedlines. i n l Fig. 21s a fragmentary, rertieal, .Sectional view., taken .en line ,272 ef Fig,- 1., lee'kns `the direction indienteel-` c f Fig. `.3 is .a fragmentary, SeeieneL/.Side elev ation, teken en line .fef ige-f2, lOkIlE in the direction indi'eatedl Fig- 4i is a perepeetiie, Side View, `0f One nf the .table vsegments disposed .upon 'the endiless chain.. i Y i i 4Fie `5 is .regnienierytep Pien View; ef the ,conveyor Achain .illustrating the eflepiil of the table ljoinrial to thatoflthe bearing disposed unen'the ehnin# f 1. L'fke ,reference characters referto like parts throughout the several views.

In present construction, Vthe ,same is y.adapted to serve a pluralityo'f lloo'rs, 1, 2), 3, and L With tables 5, 6 and 7 arrangedupon .each neer and-.Cliepeeed et either Side Of a transfer,channelthrough which the? endless chains carrying the carriages 410 pass. Endless chains or belts 8, aretrained about a plurality of sprockets 9, safid sp'rocketsbe'ing .disposed in registerable alignment with each other ilfponadjacent ,floors Vsothat the chain .carrying the `serving carriages may move vfrom Hoor to floor.. "Each chain has a plus Arality ofjournal bea-rings '.19 disposed oir* wardlytheizefrom saidj ournal bearingsbeing in spaced relation and in registerable alignment with like journal hearings disposed upon the other chain. Reinovably mounted upon the chains are a plurality of serving carriages 10. The carriages are composed of side and end walls 11, and have a depressed bottom 12, into which the food to be displayed is placed. outwardly extending journal bearings 13 are disposed at either of the side walls of the carriages, preferably four in number`v disposed at each side, comprising two pairs with one bearing being disposed above the other. as illustrated in detail in Fig. 4. said bearings having carriage rollers 21 disposed thereon. Journals 2O are centrally disposed on each side of the carriages equidistant from the roller carrying journal bearings and adapted to ride about the journal bearings 19 disposed upon the chains so that the carriages are at all times well balanced and adapted to being easily maneuvered from one direction to another. n end guidewa-y 14 is disposed substantially vertical into which the iournal bearing rollers 21 are made to pass. the purpose of which is to maintain the serving carriage disposed upon the chains in a horizontal position when traveling from oor to floor. At the top and bottom ends of the guideways. a bifurcated channel.l asvillustrated at and 16 in Fig. 3. is formed into which the side journal bearing rollers of the carriages are made to pass. The bifurcated channels are inclined at such an angle as to positively maintain the carriages in horizontal position when the change of direction is being made from horizontal to vertical travel. Guidewavs 17 and 18 are disposed in a horizontal position below the tables immediatelv next to the transfer channel disposed between the tables through which the carriages are made to pass as thev are moved in the same plane. Patrons or attendants minr place the soiled utensils upon the carriages disposed upon the chains. thcrebv eliminating the service of bus bovs since the dishes and other utensils and foods will be transferred to a central service station.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the obiects prima rilv stated. it is to be un der stood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein shown and described. as it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms. all coming` within the scope of the claims which follow.

What T claim is:

1. In conveving apparatus.` pairs of sprockets disposed in different horizontal planes and in spaced relation with each other` pairs of horizontal and pairs of vertical guidewavs disposed in direct alignment with the pairs of sprockets. a pair of endless sprocket chains trained about said sprockets,

carriages removably ournaled to said chains and guided through their travels by thc guideways and the chains, said carriages aving two pairs of rollers extending out wardly from each of their side walls, the upper pairs of rollers adapted to ride upoir the horizontal guidewayswhen the carriages are traveling in a horizontal plane, and the upper pairs and lower pairs of rollers of one side of the carriages being adapted to ride at one time upon the vertical guideways when the carriages are traveling in a vertical plane, the vertical guideways having bifurcated ends turned inwardly in the direction of and in the line of travel of all the pairs of rollers, said bifurcated ends being adapted to transfer the carriages from their horizontal to their vertical travel without in any way tilt ing the carriages.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein both the horizontal and vertical guideways are U-shaped and wherein the ends of the vertical guideways are furcated and turned inwardly and lie in the line of travel of all of the rollers ofthe carriages and being adapted to change the plane of travel of the carriages from horizontal to vertical without tilting them.

CHARLES G. HALL. 

